The King's Sword
by Lord Zalgo
Summary: Sword Art Online. The most anticipated VR MMORPG to date. But, for Akira Costar, Joyce Beam and thousands of other people, it's nothing more than a prison. With the possibility of death around every corner and encounter, SAO is a powder keg waiting for a spark. But, Akira and Joyce are determined to make their way in SAO. Can the RPG veteran and the newbie survive Sword Art Online?
1. Chapter 1

"'Sword Art Online'?" Akira said to his friend as she held up two VR NerveGear helmets.

"Yeah! Come on, Akira, you've gotta check this out, it's being launched today!" Joyce said excitedly as she practically bounced from where she was sitting on her bed with a very large smile. Akira Costar was a young, Caucasian man in his late teens with bright green eyes and blood red, scruffy hair. He was wearing black jeans and trainers and a dark red buttoned shirt. Joyce Beam was a young, Caucasian woman only a year or so younger than Akira with blond hair that was tied into two pigtails and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a bright yellow top and a light blue miniskirt. She remained barefooted. It was her room, after all.

"You know I'm not interested in games, Joyce." Akira said as he crossed his arms.

"Oh, come _on_ , Akira! It's gonna be the most amazing VR MMO game ever! The beta testers kept saying how great it's gonna be!" Joyce exclaimed with excitement, her smile still intact. Akira ran his hand through his hair as he gave a small sigh.

"Then, why are you telling _me_ all of this?" Akira asked.

"Akira, you've been my bestie since longer than I can remember. I waited for _soooooo_ long to get one of the ten thousand copies. Now, I can game-share with you. I checked and we can totally do it! I wanna share this with you." Joyce said as she put the helmets down, stood from her bed and walked up to Akira. They looked into each other's eyes with no change of expression until Akira closed his eyes, sighed and let a small smile grace his lips.

"I never was able to say 'no' to you for very long. I'll be with you for the launch, then I'll log out." Akira said, his smile remaining. Joyce literally jumped for joy as she ran back to the bed and picked up the helmets.

"Put it on~." Joyce said in a sing-song voice. Akira took one of the helmets from Joyce, following which she quickly placed the other one on her head, leading Akira to do the same.

"We've gotta follow the instructions to make our profiles and characters first. Then we can start playing!" Joyce said excitedly. Akira rolled his eyes playfully, before both of them began the calibration procedure.

* * *

Akira appeared in some kind of plaza in a flash of light. He looked down at his maroon fabric clothing with light leather armour that was the predetermined choice from the character creation. He also to long, white beard the reached his chest. It reminded him of the depictions of Merlin that he saw as a child, so he modelled his temporary character after the wizard. He looked at his HUD and saw his health bar, level which was at '1' and his username. Joyce told him that he could just use an abbreviation of his name for his username. Kirastar. That was the name he used for the username. Looking like a withered, old druid, Kirastar moved his character's head and body. He was in some kind of town with more avatars appearing in flashes of light.

"Akira, that you?" A female voice called out behind him. Kirastar turned to see a voluptuous, female avatar looking straight at him. She had long, flowing brunette hair, green eyes and stood slightly taller that Kirastar's avatar. She was wearing the same garments as Kirastar, but hers were blue instead of red. Ignoring the… generous proportions the avatar had, Kirastar looked at the woman's username. It read 'JoyJoy'. Kirastar internally sighed at the avatar's name and appearance.

' _Of course. Just the thing Joyce would do._ ' Kirastar thought before turned fully and replied.

"Only if that's you, Joyce." Kirastar replied in an old, weak voice that his avatar allowed. JoyJoy was happy to have found Kirastar so quickly, but quickly pouted at the look of his avatar.

"Why'd you pick to look like that? Now people are gonna think you're my dad." JoyJoy said with a pout.

"I thought you liked older men." Kirastar teased, as players began to enter the plaza by flashes of light.

"Jerk." JoyJoy replied moodily. More and more players were appearing in the area until it was packed with hundreds, maybe a thousand or so. Kirastar and JoyJoy looked around in confusion.

"Some kind of… event or something?" Kirastar asked unsure of how the game worked.

"This early? I wouldn't think so." JoyJoy said with suspicion in her tone. They both looked around until they looked up to see a large, red 'warning' sign in the sky. Suddenly, the sign began to multiply with the words 'System Announcement' on each of the new ones, until they covered the entire visible sky. The newly red sky then began to bleed and the substance that was bled congealed into a single, floating, robed humanoid form. The being extended its arms and began to speak.

"Attention, players. I welcome you to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba. And as of this moment, I am in control of this world." Kayaba announced. At his words, Kirastar's and JoyJoy's hands met each other's without them realising but neither of them caring. A few indistinct mumbles came from the crowd before Kayaba continued.

"I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus - the log out button. Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be." Kayaba explained. In a panic, JoyJoy flicked her finger and her menu popped up. After a few frantic swipes and clicks, she stared in horror at a button that had been left blank. Kirastar gazed at the button in horrified silence before slowly turning his head back to Kayaba.

"You cannot log yourselves out of SAO, and no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the "NerveGear" from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the NerveGear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life." Kayaba continued. Everyone froze. JoyJoy turned to Kirastar.

"Akira, you're smart, he's kidding, right?" JoyJoy asked, on the verge of tears, internally praying that he was. Kirastar slowly turned his head towards her with a look of dread on his face.

"…If human flesh is subjected to strong enough microwaves, it will begin to deteriorate within seconds. If the NerveGear operates using microwaves, it could barbecue our brains in our own skulls." Kirastar replied, not sugar-coating the response. JoyJoy started to shake as her grip on Kirastar's hand tightened and her gaze went back up to Kayaba.

"Despite my warning, the families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the NerveGear, an unfortunate decision, to say the least. As a result, the game now has two hundred thirteen less players than when it began. They've been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world." Kayaba said, completely unsympathetically. Kirastar and JoyJoy shared a look of horror. Everyone in the crowd was showing more and more panic as the speech was wearing on.

"As you can see, international media outlets have round-the-clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point, it's safe to assume the likelihood of a NerveGear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game. It's important to remember the following: There is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system... forever. And the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain.

"There is only one way for a player to escape now - you must clear the game. Right now, you're gathered on Floor One, the lowest level of Aincrad. If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on Floor 100, and you will clear the game." Kayaba explained. The screens that Kayaba was showing confirmed it. People were dying. People were _dead_ , because of Sword Art Online. Kirastar and JoyJoy were holding each other now, completely terrified.

"We have to _beat_ an MMORPG? WHO _BEATS_ AN MMORPG?!" JoyJoy screamed, the panic getting to her.

"Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please have a look." Kayaba said. Kirastar and JoyJoy looked at each other nervously before JoyJoy opened her menu and Kirastar copied her action, opening his. They checked their inventories and saw a single item that they didn't recognise.

"'Mirror'?" Kirastar asked rhetorically to no one in particular as he selected the item, causing a small hand mirror to appear in his hand. Suddenly, every player present suddenly erupted in a burst of light, causing many players to scream. As the light subsided, Kirastar opened his eyes and turned to see not JoyJoy, but a spitting image of Joyce standing in front of him.

"Joyce? You look like you again!" Kirastar exclaimed in confusion. Joyce looked back to Kirastar before flinching in surprise.

"I'm not the only one, Akira!" Joyce exclaimed in the same tone. Akira rubbed his face to find the beard he picked for his character absent and looked up to see his regular, scruffy, red hair. Akira turned his head back to see Joyce, her face making a pout, her hands on her modestly sized breasts.

"My big boobs are gone…" Joyce said in a depressed tone. Akira's eye twitched before responding.

"Is _THAT_ really what you're thinking about right now?!" Akira asked loudly, surprising Joyce.

"Oh, right! Right! Priorities. Right." Joyce said awkwardly before they instantly wrapped their arms around each other again as they looked back to Kayaba, their fear returning.

"Right now, you are probably wondering why. Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and NerveGear, do this? Ultimately, my goal was a simple one. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design." Kayaba said.

"What the hell does he mean? That he could kill us all, just like that? Who'd want that?!" Akira exclaimed, pulling Joyce closer, Joyce not protesting once.

"As you can see, I have achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck." Kayaba said, before he began glitching and faded away, the sky returning to normal instantly after he was gone. Still in shock, Joyce didn't notice Akira pulling her by the hand. She didn't register all of the players shouting and shoving. She only started to recover when they were both sitting down in a field looking at the virtual sunset.

"…Akira?" Joyce asked, her voice cracking as tear began to appear in her eyes.

"…Yeah?" Akira asked in a quiet voice, clearly trying to hold back emotion.

"…Are… Are we gonna die?" Joyce asked desperately, her tears streaming down her face. Akira immediately embraced her, allowing her to sob.

"…I don't know." Akira's answer increased Joyce's sobbing. They remained in their spot for minutes on end, waiting for the tears to stop. When Joyce had no more tears to shed, she leaned back to look Akira in the eye.

"…If we're gonna live through this… we're gonna have to work together, okay? I've got experience with games like these. You can just stick with me, got it?" Joyce didn't sound too confident, but one thing did fill her with genuine courage and reassurance of what she said. The moment she said those words, Akira's eyes lit up, with or without his knowledge, showing his relief. He trusted her. She knew in that moment that he was glad that he could rely on her and that he trusted her. Even with his life, apparently.

"So… what's first?" Akira asked, inexperienced of the layout of SAO.

"Well, in the panic, players might pick this place clean of all it's worth. If we move on, we might be able to get some good items before anyone else." Joyce said as she stood, Akira following suit.

"Alright. Shall we go… JoyJoy?" Akira asked teasingly with a smile. The smile was weak and didn't have too much happiness behind it, but it was enough to get Joyce to return it in equal measure.

"We shall, Kirastar." Joyce said, letting the tease slide as they began to head towards the next town.

* * *

Back in the real world, Akira's and Joyce's bodies were yet to be found. It was only a matter of time as law enforcement and paramedics were going door to door, searching for SAO victims. Until they came, the bodies remained undisturbed, lying next to each other.

And a single tear rolling down Joyce's cheek.


	2. Chapter 2

Kirastar was launched backwards by an incredible force, causing him to land roughly on his back, his sword somehow remaining in his hand. He struggled to get to his feet, only to fall to his knees as his opponent walked up to him. With her trademark smile present on her lips.

"You're getting better, Akira." JoyJoy said cheerfully as she held out her hand. Kirastar grabbed it and JoyJoy pulled him to his feet.

"Thanks. So, our stats naturally increase with each level?" Kirastar questioned as he sheathed his iron sword. JoyJoy nodded as she sheathed her steel one.

"Yup. Have you been training like I told you? What level are you now?" JoyJoy asked as she and Kirastar started walking back to their apartment from the fields they were training in.

"I'm just a level 6. I managed to level up my luck stat, though." Kirastar said.

"Akira, luck is practically useless. You just have a better chance for critical hits and better item drops. The chances are still reeeeeeeeeeally small. You really are a newb." JoyJoy said as they reached the town.

"Hey, leave me alone. You may be a level 13, but you don't have a single cooking skill. Unless you want to lose your roommate and more importantly, your cook, you'll not use the 'n' word around me and just help me get good." Kirastar threatened jokingly. Not hearing the sarcasm, JoyJoy's face turned white before falling to her knees and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"I'm sorry! Please, don't leave me! I don't wanna eat my cooking!" JoyJoy wailed. Kirastar let a single chuckle out of his mouth before pulling her to her feet.

"Joyce, I'm never _actually_ going to leave. I wouldn't last a day without you. Don't worry." Kirastar said with a soothing smile. When JoyJoy didn't move, her arms still wrapped tightly around him, his smile faded.

"Joyce?" Kirastar asked softly.

"I don't wanna be alone." JoyJoy whispered weakly. Kirastar froze at the words, causing him to slowly reciprocate that hug that Joyce had trapped him in. He realised in that moment that while it was true he needed Joyce in order to survive SAO, she needed him just as much. Maybe she didn't need him in the same way, but she didn't need to. They needed to balance each other out.

"You're not alone. You'll never be alone again." Kirastar whispered back as he held her and tears began to stream down JoyJoy's cheeks.

* * *

JoyJoy played with a spoon as she sat at the dinner table while Kirastar was cooking dinner. A small chime filled the air, causing JoyJoy to jump slightly. She flicked her hand and opened her menu to see that she had a notification. Clicking on it, a message opened in front of her.

"Hey, Akira?" JoyJoy called out.

"Yeah?" Kirastar replied from the kitchen.

"Did you get this message? A meeting for players to attend in an hour?" JoyJoy called out again. Silence fell as Kirastar walked into the room, looked over JoyJoy's shoulder to look at the message.

"Hmm… What do you suppose it means?" Kirastar asked.

"I don't know. Why would a meeting need to be called? …Well, it looks like the meeting place isn't far from here." JoyJoy said as Kirastar walked back into the kitchen.

"Well, we can eat first, then we'll decide whether to go or not." Kirastar called out.

"'Decide'? You know you can't talk me out of anything. I'm going." JoyJoy said with a smirk. Kirastar walked in with a large container of stew in his hands. He rolled his eyes as he approached the table.

"Okay, okay, we'll go. But, you need to start thinking before you decide on something." Kirastar said as he set the pot of stew down. JoyJoy removed the lid as a large amount of steam rose from the open pot and she began to salivate slightly at the sight of the stew.

"And how do you plan on making me do that?" JoyJoy asked as she raised her spoon and readied it to dip into the stew. Only for it to hit the air as the pot moved from under her hand. JoyJoy looked around to see Kirastar holding the pot again with an evil smirk.

"Well, I guess I'll have to eat this stew all by myself, then." Kirastar said. JoyJoy jumped out of her chair and slumped down to her knees in a begging position.

"I'm sorry! I'll do whatever you want! I'm gonna start wasting away if I don't eat! …Come on! That stew smells too good, don't tease me like this!" JoyJoy wailed. Kirastar let out a single chuckle before setting the pot down on the table again. As JoyJoy started to get up again, Kirastar dipped a ladle into the pot and poured it into JoyJoy's bowl, before repeating the action a few more times to fill the bowl completely.

"Well, then. I don't want to see a drop of that stew left in that bowl." Kirastar said faux-sternly with a sweet smile as he began to pour some stew for himself. JoyJoy quickly sat straight in her chair as her eyes shined with gratefulness.

"Itadakimasu!" JoyJoy said excitedly. Kirastar rolled his eyes with a small laugh.

"You're such a weeaboo." Kirastar said humorously. JoyJoy pouted as she looked back at Kirastar.

"Okay, if I can't use the 'n' word, you can't use the 'w' word." JoyJoy said with a pout as she pointed her spoon at him. After he nodded with a small laugh, as they sat in silence and both placed a spoonful of stew in their mouths. They both began to smile in silence as they continued to eat.

* * *

"So, this is Tolbana, huh?" Kirastar said as he and JoyJoy walked through the town towards the meeting place.

"It's a way away from the Town of Beginnings, isn't it?" JoyJoy replied. Kirastar nodded as they started to follow a number of players to some kind of small amphitheatre. They both took a seat as a player stood in the centre.

"Okay, people! Now that everyone's here, let's get this meeting started. So anyway, I want to thank everyone for coming. Good to see you. My name is Diabel, and in this game, the job I rolled is knight!" Diabel announced.

"Dude, there's no job system in this game!" Someone called out from the groups of gamers.

"You guys want to hear this or not? Right, anyway, here's the deal. Our party found the boss room at the top of the tower today. First, we need to defeat the boss and make it to Floor Two. The next step is we have to tell everyone waiting in the Town of Beginnings that it is possible to beat this game! Fact is, it's our duty as the most capable players here! Do you agree or not?!" Diabel said. Kirastar looked nervously at JoyJoy and leaned to whisper in her ear.

"If this is for the most capable players, I don't think I should be here." Kirastar whispered.

"Come on, you'll be fine. Besides, we've got each other, don't we? We can do this together." JoyJoy whispered back before returning her attention to Diabel.

"Okay, glad to hear you're all with me on this, now let's figure out how we're going to beat the boss. First off, we'll team up into parties of six. A typical party doesn't stand a chance against a floor boss. We need a raid group made up of multiple parties." Diabel continued. Without moving her head or her line of sight, JoyJoy linked her hand with Kirastar's.

"All right. Looks like everyone's teamed up. Now then..." Diabel began, but was suddenly cut off.

"Hold up a sec!" A player shouted from the back of the amphitheatre. As everyone's attention shot to him, he leapt to the centre.

"My name's Kibaou, got that? Before we take on the boss, I want to get something off my chest! We all know about the two thousand people who died so far, yeah? Well, some of you need to apologize to them right now!" Kibaou announced angrily.

"Kibaou, I think I know who you're referring to. You mean the ones who were ex-beta testers, right?" Diabel asked, keeping a calm tone.

"'Course I mean them! The day this stupid ass game started, the beta guys just got up and vanished, right? They ditched all us beginners! They snagged all the good hunting spots, and they grabbed all the easy quests too! They were the only ones getting stronger in here. This whole time, they've ignored us like we were nothing.

"Hell, I bet there are some of them here! Come on out, beta testers! We should make them apologize to us, and we should make them all give up their money and the items they got! They can't expect the party to trust them when they don't trust us! Why should we?!" Kibaou replied.

"Can I say something?" A voice called from the crowd as another player stood. He was a well-built tower of a man. All eyes were on him as he calmly walked towards Kibaou.

"Hey, my name's Agil. Kibaou right? I want to make sure I'm on the same page. You say the ex-beta testers should be blamed for the rookies' deaths because they didn't help them, and you want them to apologize and give up their winnings. I leave anything out?" Agil said.

"No, you didn't." Kibaou replied.

"The item store hands these out for free. It's a guidebook. You got one, didn't you?" Agil asked as he pulled out a small brown book.

"Sure, I got one. So, what about it?" Kibaou replied.

"You know who was handing these out? The ex-beta testers. Listen up! Everyone had equal access to this information. Even so, lots of players still died. I didn't come here to point fingers at anyone. I'm here 'cause I want to learn from those players' deaths. I'm here because I want to find out how we're gonna beat the boss." Agil finished speaking, causing Kibaou to frown and sit back down as he pouted like a child. Diabel cleared his throat as Agil sat down as well.

"Okay, can we get back to the meeting now? For info on the boss, it's all in here - the latest issue of the guidebook you just heard about. According to the book, the boss's name is Illfang the Kobold Lord. Also, he'll be surrounded by his minions - the Ruin Kobold Sentinels. Illfang carries an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars, and when the last one turns red, he switches to a curved sword type weapon called a Talwar. He can change his patterns of attack, too.

"That's it for the briefing. As for the distribution of loot, money will be divided equally among everyone. The party that defeats the boss gets the EXP; and whoever gets an item, gets to keep it. Any objections?" Diabel asked, to which no one responded.

"Good! We leave tomorrow at ten in the morning! Meeting adjourned, people." Diabel finished, causing everyone present to stand and to disperse. JoyJoy turned to Kirastar with a beaming grin.

"We'd better get some sleep tonight, Akira! Tomorrow's the day that we start the quest to get outta SAO! Whoo!" JoyJoy cheered as she began to walk to the exit, Kirastar silently following behind.

' _I can't leave her to do this alone. But… If I try to help… I'll die for sure._ ' Kirastar thought with dread.


	3. Chapter 3

"Akira? You don't look like you got any sleep." JoyJoy said as she kept her hand on her sword's pommel. Kirastar gripped his own sword's pommel tighter as he turned to her with bags under his eyes.

"…Joyce, I don't belong here. We both know that. I'm about to be a part of an attack on a boss room. And I'm scared. I'm… so scared…" Akira said as he shook. The players involved in the upcoming attack had gathered outside of the boss room, preparing for the attack. JoyJoy looked at Kirastar in surprise before replying to him.

"But… I need you here. I can't do this alone." JoyJoy replied weakly.

"Yes, you can. You've always been the braver of the two of us. I'm just carrying extra potions and a sword that I barely know how to use! We'll die if we get this wrong! I don't wanna get you killed just because I was too useless to do anything about it!" Kirastar exclaimed. JoyJoy remain silent for a moment before tears began to fall from eyes.

 _SMACK!_

JoyJoy suddenly slapped Kirastar across the face. Kirastar was knocked backward; to shocked to keep his balance, causing him to fall on his backside. He blankly looked up at JoyJoy, wide-eyed and frozen, stupefied.

"…Why do think I can be so brave, huh?" JoyJoy said angrily through her tears. The sound of the slap had reverberated off of the walls and caused everyone to look at the two players in confusion, shock and interest.

"Why do you think I can have so much strength every time we do something? Answer me!" JoyJoy yelled, still crying, causing Kirastar to flinch.

"I… I don't…" Kirastar's words died in his throat as he couldn't think of an appropriate answer.

"It's because of you!" JoyJoy screamed, causing everyone to freeze. JoyJoy stormed forward a few steps and gripped Kirastar by his shirt, lifting the taller player with her superior strength.

"It's because I know that you've got my back! When you're not with me, even IRL, I can barely do anything myself! I could, but I'm just too scared! Why can't you see it, you moron! Why can't you see that we can solve any problem together?!" JoyJoy continued to scream as she continued to uncomfortably lift the boy. The rage on her face slowly began to ebb away as she slowly put Kirastar down only to tighten her grip on his shirt.

"You keep saying that you can't do this, but neither can I… Not without you…" JoyJoy said before she pushed her face into his chest, her tears still not stopping.

"You were never just a cook. You were never just another player to help me. Without you, my skills could probably help me survive in this world… But, without you, I wouldn't want to…" JoyJoy's voice grew steadily softer until she was practically whispering. A small gasp escaped JoyJoy's throat as a status effect appeared near her health and two arms wrapped around her body. She looked at her health to show that her defences had temporarily risen through the use of an item, meaning she wouldn't take as much damage from attacks. She then looked up to see Kirastar hugging her tightly with the same effect on himself as well.

"Believe me, with the way I fight, we're gonna need that." Kirastar said softly but playfully, his voice filled with emotion that he was clearly trying to hold back. More tears flowed from JoyJoy's eyes as a smile found its way to her lips and a small giggle escaped her throat.

"Yeah… I haven't whipped you into shape yet. I'll have to do that when we get outta here." JoyJoy said, her voice mirroring the softness of Kirastar's. The two released from each other and turned to the boss room door in synchronicity as they both walked towards it, the ignored players behind them, following in shocked silence.

"Here we go. Break a leg, Akira." JoyJoy said as she unsheathed her sword.

"Not if you break them all first, Joyce." Kirastar replied with a smile as he unsheathed his own sword.

"Hehehe… You know me so well." JoyJoy replied with a smile as the two of them opened the doors to the room, causing all of the players to prepare themselves.

* * *

"Joyce! To your right!" Kirastar yelled out to his friend as more Kobold Sentinels began to spawn to assist Illfang, as was expected from a boss fight. JoyJoy turned her head to the right to see a Sentinel ready to strike her, causing her to block the strike and counter it with a strike of her own. The Sentinel screamed as it shattered in the normal death animation.

"Thanks, Akira!" JoyJoy called out as the both of them returned to the battle. They had been fighting the Sentinels along a large number of other players as a smaller group of players were focussing on Illfang. Suddenly, a loud clattering filled the air as they dealt with the Sentinel. JoyJoy and Kirastar turned their attention towards Illfang only to see that it had thrown its sword and shield away, ready to pull out another weapon.

"Looks like the guidebook was right." Kibaou said.

"Stay back! I've got it!" Diabel said as he ran through the group, charging towards the injured Illfang. JoyJoy and Kirastar looked at the charging man in shock. They knew that he was either very bold or very foolish.

"Wait, stop!" A single player with black hair shouted. Diabel didn't stop charging as most of the other players looked at the player in confusion.

"It's no good! Get out of there!" The player yelled again, only to be ignored by Diabel. Illfang suddenly leapt out of range and jumped between the large room's pillars with blinding speed before hitting Diabel with a devastating hit. Before he could recover, Illfang landed and hit him again, just as hard as the first time, launching him away. There was no way he had enough health points to survive those attacks and everyone knew it.

"Diabel, no!" Kibaou exclaimed before Illfang leapt into the centre of the group and roared in their faces. JoyJoy screamed as she tried to scramble away, her health too low to last against it. Unfortunately, the scream attracted Illfang's attention and it raised its sword, ready to strike JoyJoy dead. Time seemed to slow down in JoyJoy's eyes as the beast began to swing the blade. Tears leaked from her eyes as she realised that her body was too shocked to react in time. She was going to die. Suddenly, her vision was blocked by another player. Kirastar, primed his blade and thrust it forward, hitting Illfang, before its attack made it to either player. Kirastar's attacks barely damaged Illfang, as his level and strength stat were far too low to do any real damage. However, as the attack connected, the words: ' _Critical Hit!_ ' appeared in bright green letters and an effect icon appeared by Illfang's health.

Stun.

Kirastar had managed to stun Illfang with his attack. A feat that only a very lucky player could pull off. The player with black hair and his hooded partner suddenly appeared and began using their switching strategy that they had been using for the Sentinels on Illfang. Unable to fight back due to the stun, Illfang to blow after blow from the two players as everyone else watched. After a number of powerful strikes, a blinding light burst from Illfang before he shattered, signifying its death. No one immediately reacted. Only when a large sign saying 'Congratulations!' appeared to everyone begin to cheer. They had won. They had beaten the first floor of SAO! JoyJoy and Kirastar turned to each other with large smiles and practically threw themselves at each other, clinging to each other as if for dear life.

"Remind me to never badmouth the luck skill ever again." JoyJoy said playfully into Kirastar's chest, her voice filled with relief and happiness.

"Remind _me_ to stick to cooking." Kirastar replied, mimicking JoyJoy's playful tone, causing them both to start laughing. After everyone stopped cheering, they looked over to see the black-haired player crouched down with the robed player, now with her hood down, revealing her long, ginger hair standing next to Agil.

"Nice job." The robed girl said.

"That was some fine swordsmanship. Congratulations, today's victory is all thanks to you." Agil added.

"No." The crouching player replied, however the other players present began to cheer for him. JoyJoy and Kirastar began to cheer for him too. JoyJoy was less enthusiastic with her cheering, however, due to no one cheering Kirastar for what he did.

"Stop cheering!" Kibaou yelled, causing everyone to fall into silence.

"Why'd you do it, huh? Why'd you let Diabel die?!" Kibaou shouted, causing JoyJoy and Kirastar to scowl at him.

"Let him die?" The black-haired player asked.

"That's what I said. Admit it! You knew the technique the boss was gonna use. You could've told us! Then Diabel would've stood a chance... He wouldn't have to die!" Kibaou screamed.

"Ugh, I've enough of-." JoyJoy suddenly stopped talking as Kirastar walked away from her and up to Kiboau. They stared at each other for a moment. Before Kirastar punched him in the face, causing him to fall backwards.

"I've had enough of your whiney bull! It seems you didn't notice a couple of things! He did try to warn Diabel! Didn't you hear him call out to him?! Besides, Diabel was an idiot for trying to kill that thing on his own and endangering us for screwing up the plan! Besides, that guy saved our lives! I don't care how he knew it! The point is, we're alive because of it." Kirastar shouted before he turned away and began to walk back to the crowd.

"Damn you… you damn sympathiser! Why would you defend the damn beta-testers! That has to be the only way he knew the attack patterns!" Kibaou shouted from behind Kirastar, causing him to turn back.

"Or maybe he assumed. Or maybe he knew that what Illfang replaced his axe with wasn't a Talwar like the guidebook said." Kirastar said, causing a number of players to freeze slightly. Even the black-haired player looked surprised that Kirastar knew that.

"What?" Kibaou asked in surprise.

"It's true." JoyJoy said as she walked to stand next to Kirastar.

"I've been interest in swords ever since I got into fantasy. I know a bit about swords and that was an Odachi. So, even if he did know the attack patterns, they were different than from the beta." JoyJoy explained.

"Why're you defending those damn beta-testers?!" Kibaou roared.

"They're still people!" JoyJoy yelled.

"They're trapped. Just like us." Kirastar added.

"But, they're just cheaters! They're Beaters!" A voice called out from the crowd, but a lot of the crowd didn't share the enthusiasm for hating the beta-testers. Kibaou simply growled at the two players. Kirastar sighed as JoyJoy pouted dramatically as they both started to walk towards the exit, heading straight to floor 2, ignoring all of the other players as the black-haired player and his robed colleague began to follow suit. As they walked out of the door, Kirastar was stopped by the Black-haired player, now sporting a black coat.

"Thanks for back there. Not just for sticking up for me, but that stun really made things go smoother. How'd you do that?" The player asked.

"Uh… Just… a lot of luck." Kirastar uncertainly replied.

"Seriously. He's not kidding. He levelled up his cooking and luck skills before anything else." JoyJoy said teasingly, causing Kirastar to glare at her and the other player to laugh.

"Well, best of luck in the future. What're your names?" The player asked.

"You can call me JoyJoy!" JoyJoy replied cheerfully.

"And you can call me Kirastar." Kirastar said, holding out his hand. The player met his hand with his own and shook it.

"Kirito." Kirito said, introducing himself before starting to walk away. Kirastar turned to JoyJoy.

"What now?" Kirastar asked her.

"…Let's look around before this place gets swamped and then head back to Floor 1. I just wanna sleep. …And cuddle you. I wanna do that too." JoyJoy said as she started to walk towards the new town.

"Wait, cuddle? Why?" Kirastar asked as he followed her.

"It's your own fault! You jump in front of a big monster holding a sword and save me, you have to deal with me hugging you all night. Deal with it!" JoyJoy said, not turning back. Kirastar stopped to let out a lone, tired chuckle before picking up the pace to keep up with her.


End file.
